


goddess

by littlebmam



Category: Holby City
Genre: Bathtubs, Bernie has extensive knowledge on few select subjects and no knowledge about anything else dont @ me, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, also bath bombs are an actual hazard - yes i'm speaking from experience
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:35:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28815024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlebmam/pseuds/littlebmam
Summary: Bernie discoveres the existence of bath bombs and tries one with Serena.It's just mindless fluff, y'all.
Relationships: Serena Campbell/Bernie Wolfe
Comments: 4
Kudos: 50





	goddess

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to read something, you have to write it yourself. I wanted to read about Bernie trying a bath bomb for the first time so I wrote it. Not even sorry.  
> Enjoy?

“Serena?” Bernie’s voice called from the en suite.

Serena had just finished loading the dishwasher after their evening meal. She turned it on and checking one last time that everything was in order, she left the kitchen and made her way down the hallway towards the staircase.

“What is it?” she hollered back, halfway up the stairs, after Bernie had called her name again. She didn’t sound like she was in pain or in need of help. Bernie getting stuck in the bathtub because of her back was not a common occurrence but nevertheless one they were both familiar with. Right now, Bernie’s voice sounded more puzzled than anything.

“Nothing,” Bernie said, poking her head out the bathroom door as Serena entered their bedroom. “I was just- what’s this?”

Bernie was holding a blue, yellow and purple ball carefully between her fingers, making sure to keep it away from her body as if she was worried about getting it on herself. Serena chuckled at Bernie’s distrust of the foreign object in her hands.

“It’s a bath bomb.”

Bernie’s brow furrowed as she looked at Serena in confusion.

“Come again?”

“A bath bomb,” Serena said, a smirk still firmly fixed on her features, as she moved over to where Bernie was leaning against the bathroom doorway. “You put it in your bath water and it sort of explodes.”

The explanation did apparently very little to help make the purpose of the object more clear for the blonde.

“Why would anyone want their bath to explode?” she asked, shaking the ball very gently, a wary look on her face as if expecting the ball in her hand to actually blow up.

Serena laughed and Bernie suddenly felt slightly ridiculous, as if she was being made fun of. It must have shown on her face because Serena stopped laughing the moment she took a proper look at her partner.

“It won’t make the bath explode,” she said seriously, wrapping her arms around Bernie’s waist to pull her closer to herself. “It’s called a bath bomb because- erm, I suppose it’s because of the alliteration. Makes it sound catchy or something? But really it just starts fizzing until it dissolves in the water.”

Bernie shook her head, brows seemingly permanently furrowed. “But... why?”

“Think of it like a bubble bath but instead of bubbles you have coloured and scented water.”

“Okay,” Bernie said with a small nod but Serena could tell she wasn’t entirely convinced as to what the point of it all was. Bernie had never been too keen on baths. She loved her showers which Serena assumed was mainly because of the lack of proper hygiene facilities Bernie had had to endure while on her various tours, yet she was never as excited as Serena was about a good long soak in the bath tub. She only really ended up taking baths whenever her back was giving her trouble. Hence why she occasionally needed Serena’s help to get out.

“Would you like to try it with me?” Serena asked, suddenly very keen on the idea of getting Bernie to share a bath with her.

“Erm, I- sure, if you want,” Bernie said, taking a cautious sniff of the ball she was still holding with the hand that wasn’t wrapped around Serena’s back.

“If you don’t like this one you can choose another,” Serena said, giving Bernie a pat on the bum as she moved past her to enter the bathroom and fill up the tub.

“There are different kinds?” Bernie asked, surprised for just a second before shaking her head with a fond smile on her face. “Of course there are.”

Serena opened the bottom drawer under the sink, pulling out a paper bag in which there were several different balls and other shapes, all wrapped in more paper to keep the from getting mixed up. She pulled each bath bomb out of the bag and lined them up on the counter for Bernie to decide which one she would like to try.

Seeing the options in front of her, Bernie glanced back at the ball she was still holding.

“I think this one’s fine,” she murmured.

“You pulled a face when you sniffed it. If you don’t like the scent, choose another.”

“It’s fine, I just- it reminds me of a men’s perfume. Some Calvin Klein one I think. Fletch uses it and it’s just, well, a little weird I suppose,” Bernie said, carefully wrapping the paper she had pulled off earlier back around the mostly blue sphere in her hand.

Serena leant forward and sniffed the now covered ball Bernie had been holding as well.

“Oh, it does!” she exclaimed. “I never noticed but it does actually smell like One by Calvin Klein.”

“See!”

“How exactly am I supposed to use this now without thinking of Fletch?” Serena asked, a teasing lilt to her voice.

“Hm, I’m not sure how I feel about you getting naked and thinking about your colleagues,” Bernie grumbled though not even trying to seem all that serious.

“You’re my colleague and I always think about you when I get naked.” Serena winked.

“Always?”

“I knew this was going to go to your head,” Serena said, feigning annoyance, her eyes sparkling before asking, “Any of them take your fancy?”

Serena turned off the tap to keep the tub from overfilling and as a consequence overspilling once the two of them had climbed in and tested the water to make sure it wasn’t too hot.

“This one’s quite nice,” Bernie said, holding up a purple bath bomb that had a round crater in it, the flat side of it resting on her hand.

“Good choice,” Serena said, motioning with her head towards the bath. “Want to put it in?”

Bernie winked, letting Serena know she had caught the innuendo, albeit unintentional, but said nothing as she moved to stand next to Serena. At Serena’s encouraging nod she leant forward and gently let the purple bath bomb drop into the water.

“ _Oh!_ ”

Serena smiled at Bernie’s reaction as the lopsided ball started to foam and fizz as it tossed and turned in the water, colouring it different shades of violet.

“It’s so pretty,” Bernie said, reaching forward as wanting to touch the water but pulling her hand back before it could make contact.

“You can touch it you know,” Serena said with a smirk as she started pulling off her clothes.

“I don’t want to ruin it. Let it do its thing,” she said, copying Serena’s actions though her gaze never left the water slowly moving around, stripes of dark purple mixing with soft shades of lavender.

After the bath bomb had completely dissolved, both Bernie and Serena’s clothes had either been dumped in the laundry basket or folded and piled on the closed toilet lid. Serena entered the bath first, carefully lowering herself to sit, her knees resting against the sides of the tub to make room for Bernie to sit between her legs.

Bernie put one foot into the warm water, inhaling the scent rising with the steam up towards her face. As she lifted her left foot off the floor to submerge it as well, the ground suddenly tilted beneath her, jolting her sideways and into free fall. She managed a surprised yelp before flailing around to catch herself on the side of the tub. Serena’s soapy hands found her waist and with combined efforts they managed to keep Bernie from falling face first into the water or worse, against the side of the claw foot tub.

“Are you okay?” Serena asked, breathless from shock, her hands still holding onto Bernie’s waist as the other woman slowly manoeuvred herself to rest with her back against Serena’s front.

“I’m fine,” Bernie sighed, dropping her head against Serena’s shoulder. “Though you could’ve warned me this bath explosion was going to make everything so bloody slippery.”

“Bath bomb,” Serena corrected, nuzzling her nose into the hair on Bernie’s temple. “And I assumed it would be obvious considering it’s basically just a ball of soap.”

“Whatever. A bloody hazard is what it is,” Bernie grumbled but Serena could tell she wasn’t all that serious.

“Admit it, you’re enjoying it.”

“I will admit no such thing,” Bernie said and Serena could’ve heard the smile in her voice even if she hadn’t been able to see her wife’s face. Serena tightened the hold of her arms around Bernie and pressed a soft kiss to Bernie’s temple.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Bernie returned the sentiment softly. “I suppose this is actually quite nice.”

Serena murmured her agreement, the ability to speak abandoning her as Bernie’s hands started sliding against her skin, slippery from soap, down along the insides of her thighs.

“And,” Bernie drawled, mischief clear in her eyes as she turned around to have better access to Serena’s body, “the soap also seems to have its perks.”

**Author's Note:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


End file.
